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Matterport partners with Google to bring VR capability to Street View

Google has announced a partnership with media technology company Matterport to enable the integration of immersive content into Google Street View.

From summer 2017, 3D scans captured using Matterport technology will be accessible on Google Maps and in Google search results.

Users will be able to access 2D photos as well as VR models of the inside of venues.

Matterport say that they are offering businesses an all-in-one solution that helps them promote their venues and ‘provide a preview of what customers can expect’.

“In our quest to help people remotely navigate places, a sense of immersion has been key, so we’re always keeping tabs on companies that take immersion to the next level,” said Charles Armstrong, product manager at Google.

“Matterport offers one of the most impressively realistic consumer experiences I’ve seen. Bringing the Matterport experience to Google Street View will be a game changer for businesses looking to better market themselves, and for the photographers who serve them.”

Automated service for businesses

The Matterport offering is automated, meaning that photographers and service providers can publish directly to Google Street View, and not need to splice together different 360 photos.

Google Street View currently supports 2.5D transitions using the kind of geometry that matterport generates.

Businesses will be able to access the new Google Street View capabilities this summer when the beta is released.

“The Matterport technology is a game changer in how we interact with our customers, providing another route to access them,” Director of Sales and Marketing at Marriot Maida vale, Francis Kisby said.

“Having consumers able to step into our venue straight from the street and properly experience it will open up the way we market, and how people visualise, spaces in a way we hadn’t thought possible. It’s a great step on from traditional photography and delivers true to life representation of our recently refurbished space”.